“How a Young Woman from the Ozarks Wound Up an ISIS Wife in Syria”
A review of the book American Girls.
(The New York Times, January 2024)
“We Did Not Stop”
How rescue groups saved 3,776 abused beagles.
(The Guardian, December 2022)
“Fault Lines”
A pioneering magnet program shaped a generation of students and brought acclaim to a public high school in Los Angeles. But beneath the excellence lurked a culture of abuse.
(The Atavist Magazine, August 2022)
Finalist: National Awards for Education Reporting — Features
“Unsent Letters”
A podcast episode in which I talked about and read from dozens of letters I wrote to my boyfriend Harvey, who died when he was 22.
(The 11th, August 2022)
“How Big of a Deal Was the Capitol Riot?”
In short: the biggest. (Also, it wasn’t a riot.)
(The New York Times, December 2021)
“Joan Didion’s indelible study of grief gave me the tools to save myself”
An essay on The Year of Magical Thinking.
(The Los Angeles Times, December 2021)
No Place Like Home
A true-crime podcast about the theft of a pair of the ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz.
(Cadence 13 with The Atavist Magazine, Summer 2021)
“Confronting the Threat of QAnon”
A review of the book Pastels and Pedophiles.
(The New York Times, June 2021)
“The father, the son, and the racist spirit”
Kelvin Pierce was raised by one of America’s most prominent white nationalists. With hate surging across the US, he’s ready to tell his story.
(The Guardian, March 2021)
“The Far Right Told Us What It Had Planned. We Didn’t Listen.”
On the coup attempt American institutions should have seen coming.
(The New York Times, January 2021)
“There’s Nothing Funny About Marjorie Taylor Greene”
QAnon and space lasers might be ludicrous, but they are also gateways to more dangerous ideas.
(The Atlantic, February 2021)
“White Supremacy Was Her World. And Then She Left.”
To stop hate, we have to understand it.
(The New York Times, July 2020)
“You’re Not a Racist and Neither Am I”
The former feminist who turned to white supremacy.
(Jezebel, July 2020)
“The Rise of the Valkyries”
In the alt-right, women are the future, and the problem.
(Harper’s, September 2017 cover story)
“The Problem with White Feminism”
An interview with Koa Beck about her book, White Feminism.
(Electric Literature, January 2021)
“Ready to Leave QAnon? Shannon Martinez Will Show You The Way.”
A former white supremacist on how extremists can regain agency in their lives.
(GEN, January 2021)
“The Secret Weapons of the Far Right”
While the men of the extreme right make headlines, it’s the women who often do the work. An essay accompanying photos by Glenna Gordon.
(TOPIC, November 2018)
“A League of Their Own Taught Me How to Be a Woman”
On my unlikely introduction to feminism.
(New York/The Cut, December 2018)
“In Brooklyn, a Church for People Who Don’t Do Church”
A Sunday service at hip-hop artist Jean Grae’s Church of the Infinite You.
(Elle.com, March 2017)
“What America Needs Now Is Horror Movies”
Stay spooked, y’all.
(The Awl, February 2017)
Personal account of surviving the crash of Amtrak 188
(The Washington Post, May 2015)
“Kosovo’s Homophobia”
An in-depth feature on the country’s LGBT community.
(Kosovo 2.0, December 2012 cover story)
“Schoolyard Risks”
A review of Jesse Klein’s book The Bully Society
(The New Republic, “The Book,” March 2012)
“The Layoff Epidemic”
When teachers get pink slips, who suffers most?
(The New Republic, June 2010)
Seyward Darby 